The Last Five Years; let your heart sing.

I have always loved staged musicals. There's something so powerful in telling a story through song; the character's emotions and conflicts are emphasized even more through dynamics and note variation. The mere tune of a song tells a story on its own. So when I began to watch the movie adaptation of The Last Five Years I knew the story would be that much more incredible.

I never saw the musical when it was on Broadway, but I am very familiar with the soundtrack and plot. So I was very excited to watch the film after much anticipation!!

The Last Five Years, originally written and composed by Jason Robert Brown, first premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001 and then in March 2002 was then produced Off-Broadway. Ever since then, there have been many productions all over the world. Richard LaGravenese wrote the screenplay and directed the movie adaptation, which was released on February 13th.

The story follows Cathy Hiatt, a struggling actress (played by Anna Kendrick) and Jamie Wellerstein, a hit novelist (played by Jeremy Jordan) in the rise and fall of their five-year relationship. The concept of the whole musical/film is very interesting because the story is not told chronologically; Jamie's story starts at the beginning of their relationship and progresses to him leaving her, while Cathy's story begins right after their divorce and goes backward to their first date. It is not until the middle of the movie when they become married that their stories (and emotions toward one another) start to converge.

What I love most about The Last Five Years is how real the interactions are. Since the story is purely about their relationship, the writing really delves into their character development and makes for a really beautiful story.

I highly recommend that you watch this movie! It is playing in select theaters and is available for rent & purchase on iTunes.

Here is the trailer for those of you interested!

Based Off a True Story

This week, as usual, I was scrolling through my Netflix to try to find something to keep me entertained.  I clicked on the film The Freedom Writers directed by Richard LaGravenese.  I had heard things about The Freedom Writers through my mom, who loves this movie.  So, I decided to watch it.

The story told in The Freedom Writers is not a light one.  There is power in the words of this story, and the crazy part is that it is based off of a true story.  I always feel like there is pressure from recreating a true story, especially if it is as emotional as this one.  

Two things that really stood out to me were the writing and the acting.  The story was eloquently written.  The writing was based off of the diaries of student's emotional lives and battles.  But what is a story without actors to tell it?  The acting in this film was incredible as well.  Hilary Swank played the role of the ambitious Erin Gruwell, and nailed it.  But it was the chemistry between her and the many actors that played her group of gang ridden students that made this movie so powerful.

Aesthetically, this film was not outstanding, but at the same time not poorly done.   Applying what we learned in class, I saw many shots where the frame was based around the Golden Ratio.  See? Here's just one example right here.

Another thing I noticed was that the camera would be filming handheld in times of high intensity or high emotions.  In times where there was less action or emotion, the camera was filming on a steady surface, whether that be a dolly or a tripod.  Nothing about this films aesthetics was poor, but nothing stood out, either.  I can understand that though, since The Freedom Writers is a movie that is highly dependent on the story and the way the actors tell it.